Set against these watery-monoliths of Mother Nature, Steudtner looks totally vulnerable, but it’s a brief moment in time when the surfer feels most at peace. “It’s complete chaos and you would think, as an outsider, it’s terrifying,” the big wave surfer tells CNN Sport. Simon Hofmann/Getty ImagesBig wave surfing is certainly not for everyone. “It’s the largest physical energy in the ocean which is about to explode on the shore, and I realize how small, little, insignificant and nothing we are as humans compared to nature,” Steudtner says. I can ride the wave the way I want to ride the wave.

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Persons: Sebastian Steudtner, Nature, “, Steudtner, Octavio Passos, he’s, ” Steudtner, ”, Simon Hofmann, I’m, Eric –, lumpy ”, Stefan Matzke, windsurfer Organizations: CNN, CNN Sport, “, German Navy Locations: Portugal, Nazaré, Europe, Hawaii, Germany